Teen arrested and remanded for spreading hate on social media

A teenager from a leading school in Colombo, who was arrested for spreading racial hatred on social media, has been remanded.

The 18-year-old has been remanded till 26 March by the Colombo Magistrates’ Court.

The Government placed a temporary ban on access to popular social media websites last week, after social media was used to promote hate among Muslims and Buddhists, resulting in mob attacks on Muslim-owned property in Kandy.Following the ban, the authorities began to monitor social media and initiated action on those accused of spreading hate among communities.

A state of emergency is currently in place, and the state of emergency was used to investigate social media accounts.

The state of emergency was declared after violence broke out in parts of Kandy last week.